Caliper rebuild companies / services

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farmershort

farmershort

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,067
Location
West Berkshire
Hi All,

I've been reading about rebuilding 110 defender calipers, and the SS pistons and seal kits. Plenty of people seem to be saying that the cost of the kits is pretty close to professional caliper rebuild services, or even new calipers. The only new calipers I can find that are close to £50 ish are the aftermarket paddock type ones. The genuine lockheed ones seem to be £100+.

Given that the kit of SS pistons and seals is going to cost me at least £40 per corner once I've finished, I wondered what folk know about caliper rebuild services? Can anyone recommend a company? If it's a matter of £40 or £50 a corner for a pro rebuild, I think I'd rather take that option. I suppose shipping is the bit that could tip the balance.

Thanks

Adam
 
Not complicated at all, but my castings were in a terrible state, and 3 out of 4 pistons were seized in the bores. Any top tips for getting them out? I tried air pressure without much success.
 
Is there enough of the piston showing so you can get a pair of grips on them ?
That's what i had to do,
Then i used a small rubber mallet on the caliper,
 
Apologies. There have been several posts on this recently - If you don't want to rebuild them yourself, it's sometimes as cheap to buy a refurbished caliper, from the sort of company I suggested.
Alternatively, just Google "brake caliper refurbishment and see who is near you. For example, if you are near Worcester, Bigg Red look good.
 
Yeah, I am familiar with google... not coming up anything for Berkshire! not coming up with much at all of use when searching for "defender brake refurb" or similar... just a million forum posts. I'm trying to get in touch with Newbury 4x4, as they seem like my nearest 4x4 place (I'm just north of newbury, a few miles from the showground), but their number is giving an out-of-service tone! not a good sign!
 
You seem to be in a brake refurbishment desert. Plenty of others further North, who will have a postal service. I suspect you will end up paying more to get them refurbished than a replacement set (which will probably be refurbished anyway).
 
zeaphod said:
You seem to be in a brake refurbishment desert. Plenty of others further North, who will have a postal service. I suspect you will end up paying more to get them refurbished than a replacement set (which will probably be refurbished anyway).
Click to expand...
Any recommended ones mate
 
zeaphod said:
Not complicated at all, but my castings were in a terrible state, and 3 out of 4 pistons were seized in the bores. Any top tips for getting them out? I tried air pressure without much success.
Click to expand...
Yes but it does involve separating the two halves of the caliper which is not recommended by any of the workshop manuals. Bear in mind however that the professional reconditioners do split the caliper and there is nothing wrong with doing so if you know what you are doing: The pistons almost never seize when they are absolutely fully retracted so there is room to *carefully* drill the centre of the piston and to tap it M8 Then screw an M8 set screw into the piston and it will push it out of the caliper. You need to be very careful to save the sealing rings which fit between the two caliper halves if you are resorting to this method because they are not included in kit sets. This is the method used by countless car restorers on Girling calipers which are no longer available on a new or exchange basis (Daimler SP250 anyone?). I should stress that this method is for the mechanically experienced: You need to know enough to re-assemble the 2 halves to a safe standard and you need to be able to drill and tap the pistons without damaging the caliper body.

Edit: I'm assuming here that the pistons will be seized beyond all other methods: I have a brake master cylinder mounted in a frame with a nice long lever which I use to hydraulic calipers apart. They have to be quite badly seized not to respond to this sort of approach!
 
Vintage-and-Classic said:
Yes but it does involve separating the two halves of the caliper which is not recommended by any of the workshop manuals. Bear in mind however that the professional reconditioners do split the caliper and there is nothing wrong with doing so if you know what you are doing: The pistons almost never seize when they are absolutely fully retracted so there is room to *carefully* drill the centre of the piston and to tap it M8 Then screw an M8 set screw into the piston and it will push it out of the caliper. You need to be very careful to save the sealing rings which fit between the two caliper halves if you are resorting to this method because they are not included in kit sets. This is the method used by countless car restorers on Girling calipers which are no longer available on a new or exchange basis (Daimler SP250 anyone?). I should stress that this method is for the mechanically experienced: You need to know enough to re-assemble the 2 halves to a safe standard and you need to be able to drill and tap the pistons without damaging the caliper body.

Edit: I'm assuming here that the pistons will be seized beyond all other methods: I have a brake master cylinder mounted in a frame with a nice long lever which I use to hydraulic calipers apart. They have to be quite badly seized not to respond to this sort of approach!
Click to expand...
never understood that bit in the workshop manual, its not rocket science, ive allways used an expanding bearing extractor plus slide hammer
 
Vintage-and-Classic said:
Yes but it does involve separating the two halves of the caliper which is not recommended by any of the workshop manuals. Bear in mind however that the professional reconditioners do split the caliper and there is nothing wrong with doing so if you know what you are doing: The pistons almost never seize when they are absolutely fully retracted so there is room to *carefully* drill the centre of the piston and to tap it M8 Then screw an M8 set screw into the piston and it will push it out of the caliper. You need to be very careful to save the sealing rings which fit between the two caliper halves if you are resorting to this method because they are not included in kit sets. This is the method used by countless car restorers on Girling calipers which are no longer available on a new or exchange basis (Daimler SP250 anyone?). I should stress that this method is for the mechanically experienced: You need to know enough to re-assemble the 2 halves to a safe standard and you need to be able to drill and tap the pistons without damaging the caliper body.

Edit: I'm assuming here that the pistons will be seized beyond all other methods: I have a brake master cylinder mounted in a frame with a nice long lever which I use to hydraulic calipers apart. They have to be quite badly seized not to respond to this sort of approach!
Click to expand...

Lots of things are not recommended in the workshop manuals now, gearbox rebuild, clutch and brake rebuilds ...
mainly because of the safety aspect I think, just a little arse covering ...
but as has been said an experienced mechanic should have little troubler as long as the cleanliness is maintained ,,,
 
As you're throwing the old pistons away it doesn't matter if they get damaged. When the Mole wrench didn't shift mine I chiselled them round with a cold chisel to loosen them and then they could be extracted with a wrench. Here's a rather blurry picture of one I got out.

Whilst the seals between the two halves of the calliper aren't in the standard rebuild kit they can be ordered from most Land Rover parts suppliers if you have the relevant part number for your model. However, I managed to do it without separating mine. Not too difficult to do despite all the people on here talking about how they couldn't get the new seals and retaining rings in. Mine went in really neatly with a brake expander tool.
 
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